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INDUCTION PROGRAMMES
IN THE AGE OF ‘CORPORATE CULTURE’:
THE ‘SOPHISTICATED SUBJECT’
Maria Daskalaki
Royal Holloway, University of London
Published in Business and Professional Ethics Journal, Special Issue, Vol. 19 (3,4): 199-231 (Fall
2000).
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Acknowledgements
I‟d like to thank Professor Chris Smith (Royal Holloway, University of London) and Dr. D. Winstanley
(Imperial College, University of London) for their valuable comments and contributions.
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Abstract
Though still viewed as the missing link between recruitment and retention,
organisational induction programmes have recently acquired a new function: they
can mould the new employee by inducing a positive „first impression‟ about the
organisation and presenting a „caring‟ company image. Up to now, however, the
majority of the induction literature has failed to refer to the political and ethical
aspects of this process and analyse the embedded ideological structures and cultural
practices through which induction trainers and newcomers construct, reconstruct and
deconstruct induction discourses and „management language‟. This paper argues that
induction should be treated as a part of an organisational cosmos that is constantly
created and re-created, defined and re-defined based on the discursive interactions of
its increasingly „sophisticated‟ subjects.
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1. Introduction
The „new‟ workplace is under pressure to „continuously improve‟ efficiency and
productivity; organisations have to invent the „one best way‟ and „search for
excellence‟ (Peters & Waterman, 1982). The employees‟ contributions, therefore,
become very crucial and their cooperation essential. Contemporary organisations
increasingly become more dependent on the construction of new forms of
„hegemonic‟ interactions based on the reproduction and manipulation of cultural
events (du Gay, 1996). Within this context, the rhetorics of „empowerment‟, „self-
actualisation‟ and „teamworking‟ represent a „corporate culture‟ which attempts not
only to socialise workers into work tasks and habits but also „affect one‟s emotional
and psychic process, sense of well-being and identity‟ (Casey, 1995:86).
Management styles based on „cultural change‟ programmes are employed in order to
control the ways in which people think, feel and act in organisations. These
programmes incorporate human resource practices or „specific measures‟ (Hunter,
1987, cited in du Gay, 1996: 61), - induction programmes being one of them - in order
to „operationalise‟ enterprise culture, „delineate, normalize, and instrumentalize the
conduct of persons …[and] achieve the ends they postulate as desirable‟ (du Gay,
1996:61).
Therefore, the aim of this paper is to remind organisational practitioners and
organisational theorists that induction programmes were initially employed in order to
improve the experience of organisational entry for new starters. In the 1950‟s the new
employee was treated as another „pair of hands‟ joining the factory or the office
environment. About forty years later, the newcomers are „internal customers‟ who are
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welcomed to the corporate communities as lifelong „learners‟. Induction programmes
of the last four decades have, however, remained the same: they demonstrate that the
first step of this learning process assumes a passive employee who does not seem to
influence the induction event either during the design or the administration phase. In
other words, the „subject‟ of induction and its role within the same and/or different
organisational settings are not taken into consideration when organisational specialists
are on the quest for the „best induction practice‟. This paper argues that induction
programmes should be analysed or assessed in relation to a) the occupational and
cultural background of those engaged with them; b) the embedded historical, socio-
political and institutional features of the organisational settings in which they emerge
and evolve, and c) the interactive effects of the two.
After a brief description of the research project that informs this paper and its
methodology, I explain how „corporate culturalism‟ (Willmott, 1993) that dominates
contemporary organisational environments is connected with the organisational
socialisation programmes and the „evolved‟ forms of induction. I will then provide an
historical account of the representations of induction in the literature and briefly refer
to some of the factors that have contributed to their „evolution‟ but have left
unaffected their purpose and objectives. A historical account of organisational
induction practices demonstrates that induction has been employed to provide another
form of disciplinary action within contemporary organisations that attempts to
„normalise‟ the subject depriving it from moral agency and individuality. In the last
part of the paper, I address the Durkheimian notion of morality and utilise Bauman‟s
(anti-)postmodern ethics in order to „locate‟ and defend the „missing subject‟ during
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organisational induction. I will argue that newcomers seem to resist being „treated as
moral beginners‟ (Gilbert, 1991:116) and, through accumulation of induction
experiences, distancing or cynicism, imperil induction rhetorics and their corporate
ideologies. The paper concludes with a discussion of the constitution of the
„sophisticated subject‟ and the transcendence of the „unethical‟ elements of induction
techniques.
2. Establishing a Theoretical Framework
2.1 Duality, Non-duality and Postmodernism
Traditional or positivistic accounts of social events are mainly characterised by a
persistence to discover an observable „truth‟ and „reality‟ that exists „out there‟. As a
consequence, the attempts to represent reality are substituted by the necessity of
describing it, as human beings are believed to be capable of fully understanding and
explaining the qualities of both natural and social phenomena. Before the Frankfurt
thinkers – who focused on the study of the cultural processes within capitalist
societies and on their relation with the domain of production - totalistic and
technocratic rationality was dominating modern thought. This positivistic stance can
be associated with traditional economic and management theories as these were
employed to describe work practices and address conflict within organisational
settings.
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The Frankfurt School‟s quest of connecting capitalist modes of production with
cultural phenomena was followed by the rejection of the Enlightenment‟s notion of
truth and Modernity‟s pursuit of reason. This is emphasised in the French writings of
Foucault, Barthes, Lyotard, Baudrillard, Derrida and others, who by adapting terms
from literary theory and criticism, attempt to provide a postmodern account of the
classical Marxist concept of „superstructure‟1 (Casey, 1995). Postmodernism supports
„the replacement of the factual by the representational" (Hassard, 1993: 127), that is, it
describes the substitution of the modern search for objective order in the world -
through language improvements and language's correspondence with nature - with an
emphasis upon deconstruction (Derrida, 1978) and exposition of "the inherent
contradictions which reside in any text" (Hassard, 1993: 125, 126). Yet, it just
reminds us how complex social interactions can be, failing to provide an alternative to
the totalising approaches that it criticises. As a result, postmodern analysis can lead to
pessimistic and futile descriptions of human interactions especially when it focuses on
issues of subjectivity, identity and de-subjection2.
This paper analyses organisational induction programmes in an attempt to address
some of the postmodern themes –like „duality‟ and „non-duality‟ (rather than „post-
duality‟)3 issue- and subject/object dichotomy but by employing a different analytical
framework. Particularly, the micro- and the macro-analysis of the induction events -
1 Superstructure can be defined as „the cultural sphere, where language, knowledge, meanings and identities are formed‟ (Casey,
1995:13).
2 For a discussion of these themes, see Foucault, 1977; Cooper, 1989; Aldrich, 1992; Gergen, 1992; Willmott, 1994.
3 Post-duality, on the one hand, refers to the state of experiencing „human agency as a complex, contradictory and shifting
process that is open to many possible modes of being (Willmott, 1994:117). Non-duality and its implications, on the other hand,
introduce radical alternative readings according to which disembodiment and de-subjectification or de-subjection (derived from
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in which this paper is based- demonstrates the dynamic nature of induction and
therefore suggests that both interactional and institutional factors frame and define the
nature of every induction programme.
Moreover, induction is treated as another manifestation of the „corporate culture‟
ideology which, according to its proponents, has the power to produce subjects of a
certain form via moulding, shaping and fabricating employees with particular
characteristics and aspirations. The conditions of modernity present the subject as an
agonising sovereign entity who, in its effort to prevent „anomic terror‟ (a Durkheimian
term), becomes subject to a „powerful authority‟ (Bauman, 1976, cited in Willmott,
1994:123). This „authority‟ within organisational settings, according to Willmott
(1993), is provided by „corporate culture‟ which, as another disciplinary practice,
aims towards exploitation, domination and „normalisation‟ (Foucault, 1977).
However, as this paper will demonstrate, induction programmes are not top-down
communication events but rather arenas for negotiation of meanings facilitated by the
discursive interactions of those who engage with them.
3. The Study: Methodological Concerns and Decisions
The present paper is informed by a research project that started in November 1998.
Its qualitative research design4 was based on induction observations (the researcher
sits-in through the entire programme), semi-structured and unstructured interviews
Foucauldian terms) dissolve the „habitual separation of subject and object‟ through undisturbed participation in the „immediacy
of the moment‟ (Willmott, 1994:121).
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with managerial staff, trainers and newcomers and other organisational
representatives that take place before, during and after the induction. The information
obtained from observations and interviews was constantly cross-analysed with the
data obtained from company documents and induction films (including company
videos).
The study incorporates a series of case studies approached in a cross-sectional
manner. Several case studies were chosen instead of an in depth one as this seemed
necessary for revealing any patterns that induction processes and newcomers‟
responses to them follow. A cross-sectional design was chosen in favour of a
longitudinal one. The examination of the induction effects after organisational entry
would not have indicated the influence of the induction programme itself in isolation
from the impact that subsequent workplace events have on newcomers‟ perception
about the company and arguably, their behaviours. Thus, the present study focuses on
the event of induction per se and therefore the analyses offered can solely be based on
newcomers‟ „immediate responses‟ rather than „elaborate‟ or „delayed‟ descriptions of
induction experiences.
Therefore, this study neither assesses employees‟ beliefs and attitudes towards
induction programmes nor describes the effectiveness of companies‟ induction
practices. Instead, it directly assesses newcomers‟ „first impressions‟ or reactions to
organisational induction practices which, according to the induction literature, can
4 A detailed examination of the newcomers‟ responses to induction programmes, not through the study of company „induction
evaluation forms‟ but via a qualitative analysis of interactions and events that take place during induction programmes,
contributes a more critical and complete view to the induction literature.
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attract and retain labour as well as promote corporate ideologies and „good
employment relations‟.
Finally, this research focuses on companies operating within a common labour
market5 and analyses employee‟ responses to induction processes encountered within
a specific geographical location, namely, Telford. In particular, I believe that, as both
induction trainers and newcomers move from one company to another, they receive a
plethora of induction messages followed by a series of work experiences6. As a
result, when they enter a new working environment, they „transfer‟ with them their
conceptualisations and interpretations of induction programmes experienced in the
past. High labour mobility7 equates multiple induction experiences and therefore
enhances the accumulation and circulation of induction knowledge dispersed within
the same labour market8. Thus, studying induction within Telford provides the
opportunity to uncover the ways in which the historical, contextual and institutional
characteristics of this particular labour market frame both the experience of an
induction programme and the newcomers‟ responses to this event.
5 All previous comparative studies have examined induction phenomena as they unfold within diverse labour markets (i.e.,
diverse labour force and labour market characteristics). Thus, focusing on the induction programmes employed within a
particular labour market appeared an original and interesting avenue of investigation.
6 In addition to that, management and training consultants, training handbooks and managerialist literature celebrate and
indoctrinate people and firms into the same „induction culture‟ (for an analysis of the role of popular discourse in the formulation
of organisational practice/policies, see Furusten, 1999). Moreover, literature on the topic suggests that induction programmes -
when established within an organisation- constitute a standardised organisational procedure whose attributes do not considerably
vary within dissimilar organisational settings (for example, The Industrial Society Survey, 1995).
7 This environment can be viewed as paradigmatic as it is characterised by high labour mobility: recent trends in the labour
markets permit the prediction that future employees will be quite „mobile‟ without hesitating to change not only their work
settings but also their careers.
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Moreover, most of the prior research assumes a „green‟ employee who arrives at the
new work environment feeling insecure, stressed and isolated (Gomersall & Myers,
1966; Horner, et al., 1979, cited in Wanous, 1993; Wanous, 1993). This paper
suggests that organisational newcomers gradually become „experienced‟ or
„sophisticated‟, and in effect, capable of questioning the rhetorical statements (if any)
of any induction programme, due to the induction knowledge they acquire by
changing working environments. Therefore, instead of a „green‟ newcomer,
organisations register in their induction programmes employees whose prior
experiences (or the accumulation of them) can influence or frame the induction event.
For the purposes of this paper, I will focus on a summary of the findings from the
cases involved in the study: conclusions drawn from it will be utilised throughout the
paper in order to illustrate the processes and the interactions between induction
programmes‟ sophisticated groups and their trainers. Before discussing the ways
through which „sophisticated‟ newcomers and trainers seize the opportunity to
challenge, deconstruct and redefine induction events, let me first refer to induction
and the descriptions of its inexperienced and vulnerable newcomers represented in the
literature throughout the years.
8 In this context „knowledge „cannot be defined without understanding what gaining knowledge means….. is not something that
could be described itself or by opposition to “ignorance” or to “ belief”, but only by considering a whole cycle of
accumulation…‟ (Latour, 1987: 220).
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4. ‘Evolved’ Induction Programmes (1940’s-1990’s): In Form but not
in Essence
4.1 The ‘evolution’ of induction
Induction programmes were initially introduced in factory environments around the
1930‟s-1950‟s, a period that followed the emergence of the „personnel-management
movement‟9 (for example, Ordway & Tead, 1933; Yeomans, 1942; Hurley, 1950;
National Industrial Conference Board, 1958; Heron, 1959[1948]). They emerged in an
effort to control labour turnover and its costly consequences within the industrial
environment. From these early years personnel practitioners stressed the necessity of
binding workers more closely to the firm (Frairris, 1997). Further, health and safety
also became a more prominent issue for organisations around this period (Frairris,
1997). As Clark and Sloan (1958) discussed in a comprehensive study, known as
„Classroom in the Factories‟, before the establishment of orientation programmes (the
U.S. term for induction), employees were sent directly to work on their assigned task.
Yet, labour turnover among new starters „was found to be high, sometimes nearly five
times as high for those with less than 1 month‟s standing as for those who remained 1
to 3 months‟ (Maier, 1952, cited in Clark & Sloan, 1958: 40). Thus, „…there [were] a
few establishments of any size without an orientation program [sic] of some kind‟
(Clark & Sloan, 1958: 40).
9 Personnel Management emerged around 1910‟s-1920‟s. For a relevant discussion, see Montgomery (1987) and Smith et al.
(1990)
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It appears, therefore that, induction programmes were initially employed to deal with
high labour turnover rates. In the sixties the objective of the induction programmes
remained the same (McGregor, 1960; Bureau of National Affairs, 1961; Gomersall &
Myers, 1966; Pigors & Myers, 1966; van Gelder, 1967; Chancey, 1968; Marion &
Trico, 1969). The enhanced familiarity with the work task, the heightened awareness
of the company health and safety regulations and the additional knowledge of the
company rules and procedures were considered to be the outcomes of an effective
induction programme capable of reducing employee dissatisfaction, company accident
rates and „exit‟ behaviours.
The late 1970‟s-early 1980‟s signalled the appearance of personnel
management/human resources journals and practitioners‟ magazines which did not
neglect to include induction articles in their publications (for example, Marks, 1974;
Hollmann, 1976; Shea, 1981; Fowler, 1983; Davidson, 1986; Reinhardt, 1988). These
were „recipes‟ about how to design, implement and monitor effective induction
programmes. According to the authors – most of whom were specialists in Human
Resources departments –, employees‟ „first impressions‟ influence their attitudes
towards the company and their behaviour regarding job-hopping and management
control. To illustrate, Lubliner (1978) offered specific directions for the development
of an „excellent‟ induction programme. For example, he detailed the guidelines on
how to prepare the presentations, choose the appropriate physical setting and the
„right‟ trainers, and gave directions about the content of an effective programme. Two
years later, another management guru, John (1980), offered his „recipe‟ in an article
titled „Complete Employee Orientation Program‟. For him, orientation is „one of the
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best methods for deterring new employees‟ errors and strengthening their morale‟.
Therefore, induction‟s scope, stages, duration, planning, accountability issues, trainers
and methods should be carefully managed (John, 1980: 373)10
.
In the 1990‟s, a plethora of, in the main, prescriptive or descriptive studies is
characterised by anecdotal approaches to designing and running induction sessions for
increasing employee commitment and reducing employee dissatisfaction and turnover
(Meighan, 1991; Federico, 1991; Industrial Relations Services, 1994; Flynn, 1994;
France & Jarvis, 1996; George & Miller, 1996; Industrial Relations Services, 1998;
Institute of Personnel and Development, 1998). According to Sathe (1985), the early
stages of organisational entry are crucial as employers have their biggest chance to
make real changes in people‟s values. Furthermore, according to a survey of 1,003
personnel and HR professionals in the UK conducted by the Industrial Society (1995),
organisations use induction in order to reinforce employees‟ sense of „fitting in‟ and
belonging in the company, make them feel special, boost their morale and improve
their motivation. „As the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first
impression‟ (Body Shop‟s Induction Co-ordinator, 1995, cited in Industrial Society,
1995:20).
Additionally, studies in the area of socialisation focused on the importance of
induction programmes without, however, providing a clear account of their
institutional objectives (Wanous, 1993). Whereas socialisation is generally viewed as
an „encompassing and enduring process‟, induction programmes should be thought as
10 Interestingly, the induction programmes attended had been following these particular guidelines, described in both articles; in
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formalised and structured sessions that take place at the threshold of organisational
entry and have a long-term objective: the improvement of „both performance and
retention-related attitudes-behavior‟ of new organisational members (Wanous, 1993).
However, according to Saks and Ashforth (1997), „[r]esearch on socialisation training
has found that most organisations use induction training as part of their socialisation
procedures. Although the content of these training programmes is general in nature,
entry training has been found to be related to socialisation outcomes‟ (Saks &
Ashforth, 1997: 255; see also Holton, 1996).
The same long-term induction objectives are identified within Japanese companies
(particularly the automobile industry). Below I summarise some of the evidence
provided by studies within Japanese companies. I chose to refer to Japanese firms (in
Japan or abroad – Japanese „transplants‟) since they have been historically considered
to provide extensive induction-socialisation programmes for their new employees.
These cases are seen „as paradigmatic‟ of the positivistic approaches and universal
models which associate extensive induction/socialisation processes with high
productivity, high performance and long tenures (Peters and Waterman, 1982;
Womack et al., 1990). Within Japanese companies, induction procedures are
integrated with recruitment, selection, training and socialisation programmes. For
example, „[a]t Honda Motors in Japan, new recruits, receive concentrated orientation
sessions in safety and corporate culture (fudo) followed by intensive training in
technical skills‟ (Hashimoto, 1994:123). The main recruitment and selection criteria
are based on „candidate‟s personality and his or her general attitude to work‟
some cases, the structure of the programme was shocking: all the steps prescribed in the article were accurately followed.
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(Sachwald, 1995: 249). This is a way in which Japanese companies try to „match‟
individuals and organisations. The plan of integration continues with the designing
and administration of extensive and intensive induction or, as Sachwald (1995: 250)
calls them, „integration‟ programmes.
Back in 1973, Kamata in his book „Japan in the Passing Lane‟ describes his
experience of being a Toyota worker during this pre-oil-crisis growth period. Joining
Toyota as a seasonal worker was much like joining the army. Kondo (1990) provides
a similar description of factory life which, in this case, resembles more life within a
large, traditional Japanese family. „From the recruitment process through death, then,
the Sato company touches the lives of its members‟ (Kondo, 1990:181). Both,
Kamata‟s and Kondo‟s experiences indicate corporate attempts to control employees‟
attitudes and behaviour, not only within but also outside the factory. In this context, a
formal induction programme is the first demonstration of these attempts.
Moreover, Japanese companies outside Japan, automobile industries in the U.S., for
example, offer similar initial assimilation training to their newcomers (Hashimoto,
1994). Both Graham (1995) and Delbridge (1998) describe induction as an
inseparable part of a unified training programme that the new starters go through
straight after hiring. The components of the programmes that aim at manipulating
employees‟ attitudes towards the company occupy more than fifty per cent of the
instructional time and stress the fact that the „company …really cares about its
employees‟ (Graham, 1995:45). Induction within transplants, therefore, constitutes
another corporate rhetorical procedure employed as an ideological control that
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promotes „good employment relations‟ (Delbridge, 1998:119-125). After a few
months, Graham, Delbridge and the newcomers found out that „the messages
presented [to them] during “Orientation and Training” often were quite different
from the reality of working in the plant‟ (Graham, 1995:58).
Although an examination of previous induction studies can provide an understanding
of the ways that the induction programmes evolved, the processes that underlie
induction interactions and the dynamics of the induction experience still remain
unexplored. These aspects of the event are explored in this paper, as both induction
and its actors are placed within an historical and institutional context and the effects
of a „localised‟, situated experience are acknowledged.
4.2 Contributing factors to the evolution of induction
The strengthening of the service sector, the technological and „cultural‟11
development, the increased competition as an outcome of globalisation12
and the
establishment of the human resource management and „corporate culture‟ signalled
the „evolution‟ of organisational induction techniques. The concept of „evolution‟ here
suggests that, though induction procedures have gradually acquired a different form,
style and structure within organisations, their essence and purpose/objectives has
remained the same. By administering well-thought induction programmes,
contemporary organisations are still expecting to reduce labour turnover and facilitate
new employee integration with the organisation (the objective of organisational
11 The term „cultural‟, here, refers to the emergence of cultural management.
12 Market pressures for efficiency, quality, and productivity can be associated with induction programmes as a means to achieve
fully productive employees from the first days at work.
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induction four decades ago) and its corporate values. The ideology of „corporate
culture‟, therefore, and the reasons and ways through which it has included induction
in its rhetorics are addressed below.
Specifically, the proponents of corporate culture and „evolved‟ induction programmes
assume and proclaim the end of conflict between management and workers, capital
and labour: Owners, labour, management and customers all belong to the same
community whose mutual growth depends on their cooperation. According to
Jacques13
(1999), the dated „Henry Ford‟s River Rouge assembly plant‟ should not be
considered the symbol of organisational relationships. This is a valuable observation.
At the same time, however, organisational theorists should not ignore the contested
interests inherent within the employment relationship. The claim that the majority of
contemporary organisational environments should be viewed as
„work sites where discretionary activity, fluid task interdependence and
flexibility are the key structuring factors of work and key determinants of
power and voice‟ (Jacques, 1999:210).
ought to be critically assessed. Conflict is not an abstract theme that academics of
industrial relations in the UK find difficult to discharge (as suggested by Jacques,
1999) but a condition still demonstrated, experienced and observed within both
industrial and non-industrial environments. The images promoted by companies‟
induction programmes, - for example, those of empowered „knowledge-assemblers‟-,
13 Jacques (1999) suggests that these writings that divide management and labour –applicable in the traditional forms of
organising industrial settings- may be slowly becoming irrelevant for the service sector/knowledge-intensive working
environments in which HRM may be becoming a key actor.
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especially within industrial settings, reveal corporate attempts to „intellectualise‟ and
„assetise‟14
industrial labour:
In the beginning, it is very difficult to send them back to school. Once
they go though you can‟t stop them. They love it. Knowledge and skills
are important for our company. Training means high quality and customer
satisfaction. And you can only achieve this through a satisfied, well-
trained workforce (PRINTCO, Interview with Human Resource Manager,
October 1998).
The management attempts to convince induction members that they are offered a
unique opportunity to participate in this programme and that this initiative is the proof
that they will be treated well by the company (PARTSCO, Induction observation,
November 1998). Following an induction specialist‟s view, „the new starters feel
empowered through their participation in these programmes‟ (PARTSCO, interview
with the Training and Development Officer, November 1998). In other words,
„[n]ewcomers who perceive that time, effort and resources have been spent to help
them adjust should become more committed in an effort to repay the organisation‟
(Meglino et al, 1988, cited in Waung, 1995: 637; see also Schein, 1968). Therefore,
the mere existence of an institutionalised organisational process (i.e., induction) as
such is employed to support the assertion of a „caring company culture‟. The new
employees are expected to feel grateful and develop stronger ties with an organisation
that „cares‟ for them and their development. The provision of induction training
verifies these organisational qualities:
During induction we will pick up newcomers with problems with the
English language or dyslexia; they can come here whenever they like and
ask for help…we want to make them feel part of …[pause]… of the
company, I suppose. Just because you may have a difficulty it does not
14 From assets: „Our employees are our company‟s most valuable assets‟: This slogan is probably one of the management
principles of numerous companies. Many firms promote this statement in their annual reports and other publications,
advertisements for products/services, job advertisements etc. regardless of the sector or the product category they belong to.
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mean you‟ll be left behind – the same stands for people at the other end.
We have both low-achievers and high-achiever. When we first joined the
company there were no training schemes, no induction and no special
courses. Today we even have a stress-recognition course. Training is the
key for a highly motivated workforce (PRINTCO, Interview with the
Human Resources Advisor, February 1999).
Nevertheless, induction is chronically positioned at the threshold of organisational
entry that leads to the collapse of the boundaries between newcomers‟ identity and
„corporate culture‟. It, furthermore, constitutes a procedure during which, on the one
hand, organisations can promote their discourses and invite new starters to become
assimilated to the „corporate culture‟ and, on the other hand, newcomers and trainers
transmit, analyse, receive and respond to these messages according to their own
volition. Induction experience, therefore, seems to be pregnant with most of the
sin(g)s of the post-modern times: myths and images, fragmentation and distancing,
consumption and consumerism, ambivalence and negotiation.
An examination of the embedded ideological structures and cultural practices through
which trainers and newcomers construct, reconstruct and deconstruct corporate
discourses will reveal the importance of the role that the new starters play during
induction. In order to achieve this, the paper discusses the ways through which a pre-
perceived and pre-defined pool of „alternatives‟ shape, dictate and „restrain‟ human
experience and vice versa. In other words, by adopting an interactionist/institutional
approach, the rest of the paper discusses the following: a) the ways through which the
„universal rhetorics‟ of corporate culture try to dictate particular induction experiences
of new organisational members and, according to Meyer and Rowan (1977),
„institutionalise‟ them; b) the ways in which newcomers respond to these attempts and
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c) the relation between the two. Through this, I employ a framework that takes into
account both large-scale structures without overestimating their effects and personal,
local practices without forgetting their wider contexts.
5. ‘Corporate Culture’, Organisational Cultures and Induction
Regardless of its various definitions and the problematic that arises from them, culture
can be „sliced‟, re-conceptualised and re-defined so as to represent different „realities‟
within diverse contexts. Trying, therefore, to avoid the trap of conceptual dualisms
that have „the tendency to reduce global forces to the act of “borrowing” or
“emulating” best practice‟ (Smith & Meiksins, 1995: 252) and restrain the meanings
of culture to one „convenient‟ approach, I will focus on how „organisational actors are
involved in cognitive processes of reality construction, processes which are embedded
within taken-for-granted aspects of everyday life, whereby its facticity and objectivity
are accomplished‟ (Clegg, 1990: 83).
Although it is not one of the objectives of this study to investigate early or late
organisational culture debates as they appear in the literature, a brief account of these
writings and how they relate to organisational induction processes and the rhetorics of
corporate culture will be given. This will offer an insight of the codes of
communication and rules of contact that govern various forms of interaction within
organisational environments.
To begin with, if organisational culture is something that the organisation „has‟, then
it can be observed, planned and implemented as any other organisational constitutive
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component. As a result, it can be manipulated and utilised as a form of ideological
control (Deal & Kennedy, 1982; Peters & Waterman, 1982). However, within a
pluralistic framework of analysis by quoting the words of Schudson (1989) as cited in
H. C. White (1992):
Culture is not a set of ideas imposed but a set of ideas and symbols
available for use. Individuals select the meanings they need for particular
purposes and occasion from the limited but nevertheless varied cultural
menus a given society provides. In this view, culture is a resource for
social use more than a structure to limit social action. It serves a variety of
purposes because symbols are „polysemic‟ and can be variously
interpreted; because communication is inherently ambiguous (White, 1992:
140).
Consequently, the institutional elements that contribute to this „resource‟ should not
become institutionalised (or taken for granted) reducing individual action into a
rational myth (Clegg, 1990). Along these lines, the „social emergent‟ approach of
culture treats organisational culture as a symbolic construction, i.e., as something that
an organisation „is‟ (Legge, 1995). Therefore, an organisation is conceptualised as
a continuous process of social construction through symbols, values,
beliefs, and patterns of intentional action which people in organisations learn, produce and recreate; simultaneously subjective and objective,
nonmaterial and material, ephemeral and enduring; a subject of study
which is observable but also evocative; an open text (Barthes, 1970:32-35;
Eco, 1962) constituted by a mesh of personal cultures, occupational and
professional cultures, corporate cultures, cultures dominant in the
productive sectors to which the organisation belongs, cultures of the
communities of practices to which the individuals feel that they belong,
and cultures of the agencies and institutions operating within society,
locally nationally and internationally (emphasis added) (Strati, 1992: 578).
The ideology of the „corporate culture‟ stresses the importance of employee
involvement and empowerment as well as the role of flexible, team-based working
patterns. Further, it tends to approach the „new industrial relations‟ as an arena for
potential agreement and mutuality of interests suggesting the resolution of the long-
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
24
term conflict and opposition between different organisational groups. Accordingly,
an important element of corporate communities, apart from personal (empowerment)
and organisational growth („excellence‟ and quality), is employee socialisation, i.e.,
corporate membership. Induction programmes, within this context, will provide the
necessary initiation rituals for all corporate entities:
They are not the workers, nor are they the white-collar people in the usual,
clerk sense of the word. These people only work for The Organisation.
The ones I am talking about belong to it as well (Whyte, 1957:3, emphasis
added).
However, following the „social emergent‟ approach, „corporate culture‟ and its
rhetorics are one of the organisational subcultures which are defined and redefined
through the discursive recreation of symbolic and material structures as well as the
personalised expressions of resistance of organisational members. In contrast to this
interpretation that takes into account the important role that the individual employee
can play in the construction and re-construction of social and cultural events within
organisational contexts, induction studies portray a passive employee without a voice
and choice, a helpless subject becoming the object of managerial behavioural and
attitudinal manipulation. One of the main reasons for this is that most of the writings
in this field have over-emphasised the „features of control and subordination in new
management regimes‟ (Durand & Stewart, 1998: 156) and considered their authority
unchallenged.
Some studies (Durand & Stewart, 1998; Hodson, 1996; Jermier, et al. 1994;
Thompson & Ackroyd, 1995), yet, focus on forms of shopfloor resistance that exhibit
not only attitudinal but also behavioural subversion. This means that they not only
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
25
attitudinally resist managerial rhetorics - display „behavioural compliance‟ but not
„attitudinal commitment‟ (Legge, 1995) - but exhibit behavioural opposition as well.
Moreover, because this acts of disagreement occur within concrete settings,
„[…] resisters organise their actions by using the interpretative and
interactional resources available to them in the setting. Thus, resistance
cannot be separated from the discursive contexts within which it is
produced, and others may respond to in ways that sustain organisationally
preferred positions, relationships and realities‟ (Miller, 1994: 158).
Following this, the ways in which employee resistance becomes manifest during
induction will greatly depend on the situational/contextual conditions characterising
this induction event. Furthermore, prototypical representations of induction
programmes, which assume a vulnerable new employee subjected to the employers‟
unmediated exercise of authority, are challenged. Newcomers are expected to
discursively decode corporate rhetorical statements and challenge trainers‟
interpretations of events whenever and in whatever ways the structure and constitution
of the induction programmes allow it. The next section therefore should be treated as
an attempt to address these discursive interactions and their outcomes.
6. Discursive Interactions of the Induction Programmes: Trainers
and Newcomers
6.1 Interactional Asymmetries: The Induction Trainers
A normal conversation is characterised by equal participation and symmetrical
relationships. Yet, an asymmetry will arise temporarily in conversational contexts
when one of the participating groups assumes a more active role. This is what
supports and reinforces human communication. Nevertheless, it is necessary to
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
26
distinguish the conversational asymmetries from the ones that arise in institutional
environments (Drew & Heritage, 1992). It is clear that the differences arising during
an ordinary conversation do not denote social status and they do not include
statements of power and social hierarchy. In contrast,
institutional interactions may be characterised by role-structured,
institutionalised, and omnirelevant asymmetries between participants in terms of
such matters as differential distribution of knowledge, rights to knowledge,
access to conversational resources and to participation in the interaction (Drew
& Heritage, 1992: 49).
In other words, interactional asymmetries may arise due to either endogenous or
exogenous factors to the context of interaction or due to the contribution of both of
them. Thus, it appears necessary to investigate both factors in order to gain deeper
understanding of the interrelation between knowledge, interaction, dominance and
power (Drew & Heritage, 1992). The last two concepts, though most of the time
appear together in order to signal a differential access to resources (in this case,
discourse tools), should not be used interchangeably. Power, is described by Linell &
Luckman (1991) „as having to do with latent resources or potentialities, while
dominance concerns manifest action properties or actualities or, if you will, some sort
of resources put to actual use‟ (Linell & Luckman, 1991: 10). Thus, identifying
dominant dialogue behaviours does not necessarily mean naming of the group in
power during social encounters.
There are two more situations that may give rise and reinforce interactional
asymmetries (Drew & Heritage, 1992). The first involves the different kinds of
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
27
knowledge that various organisational groups master. In some cases, the trainers of
each induction session are specialists in their field (for example, the Health & Safety
session is delivered by the Health and Safety Officer). In other words, they have
considerably more knowledge than the new starters about the topic of discussion that
can be manipulated in order to determine the flow of events throughout induction.
Our induction involves many trainers holding different posts within the
company. Each one of them delivered a session that they feel comfortable
with, as it is their field of work. They produce their own teaching material
and guide the discussions during the induction sessions (PARTSCO,
Interview with Training and Development Officer, November 1998).
According to this, induction trainers have the option/power of strategically direct the
content and structure of talk during the administration of the programmes. They can,
in other words, determine the topics and the ways in which to address them as well as
the kind of answers to give to particular questions in order to prevent „unpleasant‟
topics becoming an issue and maintain control over the range of work situations
discussed.
However, this is not always the case. Some of the trainers‟ answers are not
convincing and some topics discussed during some of the sessions offer newcomers
the opportunity for disagreement and resistance. For example, in one of the cases, a
recent accident on the shopfloor is thus described:
It was her fault; she tried to unblock the machine without switching it off
first. This caused an accident. So, remember what we said before‟
(PARTSCO, Induction Observation, November 1998).
An early newcomer though has a different story to tell which he did not hesitate to
share with the rest of the group during and after the programme:
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
28
It did not happen like this. The machine had no safety button. We had
complained before but they didn‟t do anything about it. They want the
work done as quickly as possible…it was not her fault” (PARTSCO,
Interviews with Newcomers, June 1999).
Therefore, it is the newcomers‟ personal experiences from the shopfloor -and the
knowledge of the event- that contradicts trainers‟ versions of events. They further
reacted to a simplistic visual representation of a fire event. I quote from my field
notes:
The Health and Safety video portrays an office environment (suggesting
that office and factory workers are equally vulnerable to a fire event)
where unexpectedly a dustbin is set on fire by of a cigarette end. The
employee dealt with the small fire effectively using a fire extinguisher. A
series of ironic comments and jokes followed the screening…‟
(ELECTROCO, field notes from Induction Observation, February 1999).
Additionally, induction programmes, in the main, involve trainers from different parts
of the organisation. As a result, „management language‟ is fused with shopfloor
workers‟ jargon and technical language transcending the complexity and variations of
human communicative behaviours and acts and their contradictions and abolishing
their signification. In particular, management, by employing the notions of „employee
participation‟ and „autonomy‟ attempts to legitimise managerial ideologies by asking
the employees themselves to become the messengers. In other words, shopfloor
employees are required to act as induction trainers and, through the employment of
prescribed methods and linguistic schemas, construct corporate „mythologies‟
(Barthes, 1972) and promote the „corporate culture‟. It is not just a presentation by
the general manager that stresses the quality of work on the shopfloor and the benefits
that the company provides. The employees who work on the shopfloor „become‟
trainers and represent the company philosophy and the management principles.
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
29
According to the findings, however, the trainers/shopfloor employees respond to this
role in various ways. Particularly, the trainers may a) conform to the induction norms
and attempt to transmit the managerial ideology; b) distance themselves from the
content of their presentation exposing the rhetorical nature of their messages or c)
resist the role of the messenger by omitting the managerial discourses from their
induction sessions. To illustrate that, I quote from my field notes:
A shopfloor supervisor is delivering this particular induction session. He
believes that people need induction but on the job and he is not satisfied
with the induction format or his participation in the programmes: „I‟ve told
them that I don‟t like it‟. To prove this, he asked the newcomers to grade
his session (plant tour) as dull and useless in their evaluation sheets.. This
behavioural pattern during the programme but also at the cafeteria
permitted newcomers to express and share their feelings about induction‟
(PARTSCO, Induction Observation and Interview with Trainer, November
1998).
In another case,
[t]he TPM [Total Preventive Maintenance] trainer commented: „Look, you
have to do it because if an accident happens, the maintenance department
is going to accuse you… the next day you will be out of here‟. Through
that, TPM metamorphoses from a company initiative, which benefits both
the employee and the work process, into an area of potential disagreement
and conflict. Through this the gap between managerial rhetoric and shopfloor practice is unveiled (PARTSCO, Induction Observation and
Interview with Trainer, February, 1999).
Therefore, the trainers‟ contributions to the induction process demonstrate one of the
ways through which induction rhetorics are unveiled during fruitless corporate
attempts to „democratise‟ the administration of the programmes.
6.2 Interactional Asymmetries: The ‘Sophisticated’ Newcomer
The second asymmetrical aspect of institutional communication relates to differential
degrees of familiarity with the particular situation experienced (Drew & Heritage,
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
30
1992). On the one hand, for organisational representatives (managers, trainers,
designers and other members of the personnel/training department), induction is
another „routine‟ procedure. Newcomers, on the other hand, are expected (or
supposed) to encounter a personal and rather „original‟ experience.
Nevertheless, the interpretation of the findings did not feature an induction newcomer
with the expected attributes. In detail, although the organisation and structure of the
programmes did not encourage newcomer interaction, communication and exchange
of information and ideas during the days of induction was inevitable. Newcomers
managed to form a united front that shared common interests and sometimes, common
shopfloor experiences. In particular, both „early‟ (employees who have been working
for the company for some time before induction) and „sophisticated‟ (employees who
have been through a series of induction sessions) newcomers questioned corporate
representations of organisational life and, in consequence, messages of „good
employment relations‟ and „good employment conditions‟. This is because they had
either encountered the realities of work and found them quite different from the
rhetorics of the induction or had participated in other induction programmes and
become familiar with the induction rhetorics and work realities in the past. In
addition, their knowledge of shopfloor realities and their previous induction
encounters did not only frame their interpretation of induction messages, but also
defined the experience of the induction programme for each of its members15
. I quote
from my notes:
15 Apart from the „early‟ and „sophisticated‟ newcomers, induction groups consist of their trainers (for an analysis of their role
see previous section) and the „untrained‟ newcomers. The ways that an induction programme is experienced is influenced, in the
main, by the contributions of the first three actors but the programmes‟ lessons are communicated to and are shared by all groups.
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
31
The same example -as in November‟s Induction programme (1998)- from
the shopfloor is employed by the trainer to address a Health & Safety
issue: An accident has happened on the line a few months ago which
resulted in the amputation of a female operator‟s hand. During my second
observation, however, there are not “early” newcomers in the room (who
have been present to the event) to disagree with the messages of the trainer
[see extract from field notes above]. Thus, the initial conclusion is that the
machines are absolutely safe to use and all major accidents have been and
are caused due to human error. However, a question by an assistant
manager threatens the truthfulness of the trainer‟s argument: The machine
that was used during the accident was expected, according to the British
Health and Safety Standards, to prevent the accident through safety switches/valves. The trainer then admitted that this machine had been
imported from Japan and authorised by the Japanese management.
Through this, he tried to justify the event by redirecting the blame on the
conflict between British and Japanese management: “They want the work
done as quickly as possible with sometimes neglecting warnings coming
from the British side”. This particular equipment was authorised under
different standards … employees should know that. He concluded: “it was
a mistake of both sides […]” (PARTSCO, Induction Observations,
November 1998, June 1999).
Therefore, induction groups can rarely be a uniform inexperienced entity consisting of
enthusiastic graduates with no recollections of previous working environments and
possibly, less critical attitudes towards the trainers‟ rhetorical devices. Most of them
have been exposed to similar situations before or have already encountered the job
realities. Consequently, their perception of the induction events and their
interpretation of the induction „communicative acts‟ (Habermas, 1979) differ
significantly from the expected „original‟ experience. Most importantly, however,
newcomers have not only developed a familiarity with induction procedures but also
with the ideology of „corporate culture‟. After the end of an induction event, one of
the newcomers commented on the company video:
It [induction] is a form of propaganda, isn‟t it? The truth is that I expected
this induction to have more propagandistic content. Watching all these
athletics on the video was a bit surprising [pause] I have to admit…but I do
not feel ready to go out there and for [BANKCO] after that […]
(BANKCO, Newcomer, Interviews, December 1999).
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
32
The induction trainer of the same programme had previously pointed out:
I don‟t know about you but I did not feel particularly motivated after
watching this video. I understand why they decided to include it in the
programme but […] [stopped] (BANKCO, Induction Observation,
Induction Trainer, December 1999).
All in all, the induction groups challenged the legitimacy of induction messages and
considered the programmes as early demonstrations of corporate authoritarianism and
hegemony as well as managerial paternalism.
Hence, the degree of the asymmetry of induction interactions varies according to the
trainers‟ „(in)ability‟ or (un)willingness to translate their power to dominance during
the sessions and the extent of newcomers‟ familiarity with induction situations and
work realities as well as the interactive effects of the two. These factors, in turn,
contribute to the constitution of an induction experience which questions „corporate
culturalism‟ (Willmott, 1993) and reinforces the disparity between managerial
rhetorics and employment realities. The last section focuses on the ethical aspects of
this disparity and identifies the implications of this project for both the theory and
practice of induction programmes.
7. Ethical Implications: Recovering the ‘Missing Subject’
As the analysis above suggests, corporate elites attempt to utilise a partial
interpretation of Durkheimian „morality‟ (a „behavioural guideline‟ that, within a
unitary and collective system, integrates individuals into the organisational context) in
order to promote the „corporate culture‟ ideology (Dahler-Larsen, 1994). According to
Dahler-Larsen (1994), however, they neglect to account for one of the most important
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
33
elements of moral behaviour, namely autonomy. Accordingly, the induction rhetorics
claim that rules, production designs and „acculturation‟ techniques are all employed to
create a community for the employee in which his/her commitment will not only
advance organisational interests but also contribute to his/her own personal
development as a human being. Within this community, the employee is given
objective and rational answers to any moral dilemma. Both „the customer is always
right‟ and „quality comes always first‟ overlook „the elements of autonomous thought
in morality and the capacities of organisational members to reflect on, or distance
themselves from, “shared” corporate imagery‟ (Dahler-Larsen, 1994:14). Therefore,
following „corporate culturalism‟ (Willmott, 1993), induction provides new
organisational members the security that enables them „to confirm a modern
(humanistic) sense of self, as a self-determining individual, without the burden of
responsibility -the angst- that accompanies the making of (existential) choices
between ultimate, conflicting values‟ (Willmott, 1993:527).
According to the „paradox of modernity‟, the state and the market progressively
become more important in our lives determining our moral codes and moral decisions
(Wolfe, 1989, cited in Bauman, 1993:182). Following Wolfe (1989), the state and the
market view the subject as an incapacitated „rule-follower‟, or in Bauman‟s terms,
„de-modernized‟ moral agent since both take responsibility for making moral
decisions and evicting individuals from moral agony. At the same time, however,
they dispossess them of moral competence, and gradually of moral conscience
(Bauman, 1993). For example, the concept of „customer first‟ releases the subject
from any moral choice as the market and its „invisible hand‟ provide the moral
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
34
decision: the demands of product, capital and labour markets ought to be the subjects‟
choices.
The reality of induction practice, however, is different: The ambiguity and
ambivalence intertwined with the moral condition are regained when the subject
enters in interaction and negotiation with the other (Bauman, 1993). According to
Bauman (1993), moral subjects‟ struggle towards moral „objectivity‟ could only be
equated with and substituted by the endeavour of indeterminacy and ambiguity. „The
moral act itself is endemically ambivalent, forever threading precariously the thin
links dividing care from domination and tolerance from indifference‟ (Bauman,
1993:181). The awareness of sociality, the experience of „being with‟ the other within
a „complex network of mutual dependencies‟ (Bauman, 1993:181), leads to the
realisation of the dubious qualities of morality. These qualities secure its existence
and their removal would release the moral subject not only from any form of moral
responsibility but also from the experience of an autonomous existence. „Effective‟
induction programmes – which are elements of „excellent‟ corporate cultures - are
designed and administered as top-down, one-way communicative events that hardly
approve of and account for alternative discourses and individual diversity. Therefore,
the „architects‟ of induction (such as, induction consultants) produce rigid
organisational structures that marginalise what they were initially employed to care
for: the subject of the induction programmes, the new organisational member. To
suggest that organisations are not willing to invest the financial resources and the time
required for producing „moral‟ induction programmes would be probably misleading.
Organisations spend time, effort and financial resources „in search of excellent‟
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
35
induction techniques. Yet, despite the claims for uniqueness, induction programmes
appear similar - as corporate cultures do - across a wide range of organisational
settings. An inductee commented:
I have been to many induction programmes… they are all the same. I
know exactly what is going to be like even before entering the room
(ELECTROCO, Interview with Newcomer, February 1999).
This is probably the price that the proponents of unitary cultural models have to pay
for substituting employee autonomy with „package‟ values and meanings. The same
induction rhetorics are repeated across dissimilar organisational settings gradually
constituting a „sophisticated subject‟; unofficial practices, direct disagreement,
distancing and cynicism increasingly jeopardise managerial „recipes‟ of success and
signal the importance of the immediate separation of induction procedures from the
web of corporatism, managerialism and consumerism.
8. Conclusion
Induction programmes are designed and administered within contemporary
organisational environments as one-way, top-down events that aim to promote
corporate ideologies and establish managerial control. Highly standardised induction
designs, therefore, through the appropriation of induction interactions, endeavour to
constitute marginalised „subjects‟ deprived of any form of autonomy and individuality
throughout the programmes. Yet, as the practice of the induction programmes
suggests, the induction experience constitutes –for both trainers and newcomers- an
arena for negotiation, exchange, resistance and „voice‟.
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
36
The increased employee sophistication, that has come as a result of the accumulation
of induction experiences (due to job mobility, career changes), threatened the
effectiveness of induction „recipes‟ by bringing individual judgement and choice
within the induction settings. At the same time, management remained obsessed with
the construction of a universal claim that would not only be persuasive but, at the
same time, also provide an answer to the issue of corporate social and moral
responsibility.
By referring to a project that has (I would like to believe sufficiently) informed this
paper, this paper attempted to explain how through sophisticated employee
participation and discursive interaction and resistance, the subject regains autonomy
and individuality during the administration of organisational induction. It suggested
that a highly mobile, increasingly knowledgeable and cynical pool of newcomers does
not hesitate to question managerial rhetorics, endanger „best practices‟ and reframe
the induction experience.
The paper initially provided a review of induction studies focusing on the relationship
between „corporate culture‟ and induction and assessed the „evolution‟ of the latter as
experienced within contemporary organisational settings. After that, it explained how
both trainers and newcomers translate the induction messages and how their
interaction leads to the negotiation and indeterminacy of the induction experience.
Finally, by employing a „late‟ Durkheimian analytical framework, the paper discussed
the ethical dimensions of organisational induction and proposed that
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
37
[o]ne abandons here the universal claim that some practices which are
applicable in other companies can become isolated. The alternative is one
of local knowledge, where stories give access to the local context, and its
own “peculiar” way of creating and continuing things…. In a narrative, the
storyteller tries to capture the sequence of events and the processes of how
“things” are evolving, the different actors get a place on the scenery
whenever their perspective is seen as adding to the dramatic course, and
the story gets its unique character as the context emerges in the line of
narrating (Steyaert & Janssens, 1999: 194).
To conclude, according to the findings of this project, management as well as policy
makers should be looking for a theoretical and practical framework of ongoing and
future induction practices that does not underestimate its constituent parts and the
social, political and institutional configurations embedded in the various working
environments in which induction processes emerge and evolve.
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
38
Induction Programmes Business & Professional Ethics Journal, 2000
39
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